WASHINGTON — Consumers increased their borrowing in December at the slowest pace in eight months, more evidence that economic activity was slowing significantly at the end of last year. For all of 2007, consumer credit rose at the fastest clip in three years.
The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that consumer borrowing rose at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in December, a sharp slowdown from the 8.2 percent rate in November.
The gain was about half of what economists had been expecting.
They had forecast that total credit would rise by $8 billion, and instead it increased by $4.5 billion to $2.52 trillion.
For all of 2007, consumer credit increased 5.5 percent, up from an increase of 4.5 percent in 2006. Consumer credit also rose 5.5 percent in 2004.
